Security was very tight at the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday at the hearing of Israeli national Lior Saat, alleged to have murdered Shai Avissar, the estranged husband of socialite Hazel Crane, who was murdered on Monday.
Members of the media were forbidden to sit on the press bench in court and heavily armed policemen kept open an empty bench between the accused’s dock and those sitting in the public gallery.
Crane, a witness against Saat, was shot dead in Athol Oaklands, Johannesburg, on Monday while on her way to court.
Advocate Johan Pretorius has only one more defence witness to call to testify before his closing argument on whether Saat was arrested on the South African side of the border or he was kidnapped from Mozambique.
Saat claimed he was kidnapped and illegally brought back to South Africa by the country’s police.
The defence called a senior immigration officer, Ephraim Mkhabela, to describe the procedures of pedestrians taken to the Mozambican border and crossing into South Africa.
Should the court find there is jurisdiction to hear the trial, Saat will be asked to plead to 13 charges, including murder and attempted murder.
The charges include bludgeoning Avissar to death in 1999, intimidating Crane by pointing a firearm at her and attempting to shot her. — Sapa
Murdered socialite feared for her life